Sunday, May 9, 2010

It's Just Dumb Music

I am not a fan of Limp Bizkit. It's not the worst music in the world, and I can tolerate it being played near me, but I would not purchase a CD or download (even for free) any of its music. That said, a girl I know really, really likes the band, and could not understand why I wasn't into it since I like "extreme shit."

(She and I obviously have different definitions of "extreme shit.")

I told her it just didn't do much for me. I didn't loathe it like I loathe The Presidents of the United States, but there is other stuff I'd rather be listening to. "It's just dumb music," she said. "It's not supposed to make you think, just bob your head."

I couldn't help but think that sums up a lot of music ... especially currently. It's not designed to make you think or even feel, but to simply move in time with the beats. Something to blare from your car, windows down, on a summer day so that those around you know you belong to a common civilization. Kind of like the reason businessmen wear suits or Giants fans wear the team's jersey on game day. It lets people know you are part of something.

I guess in this sense, Limp Bizkit and other bands that are just meant to make you shake, are not only harmless, but actually also serve a purpose. They make you less of an outsider and more of a "someone." Of course, every genre and every social group has these bands. Limp Bizkit applies to a certain group, while Jewel applies to another. Instead of creating divides, the unite, and while those outside your peer group may not recognize the song or the band, many of them can be sure they heard it somewhere at some time before, so it can't make you all that bad. After all, it's not like your Toyota pick-up is rattling to Total Chaos.

I still won't buy the band's stuff, though. I like that outsider status. The outsider is handled differently. There is more caution used ... at least until a group decides to kill him. I'm fine with that role. It suits me well. At the very least it keeps me from buying "dumb music."